


King of Thorns and Bodies

by albinosquirrels



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Drabble, Gen, and short, but mostly old, flower symbolism, shit this is old
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-12
Updated: 2014-05-12
Packaged: 2018-01-24 10:42:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1601999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albinosquirrels/pseuds/albinosquirrels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>And every day his crown grows longer. Every day a new bud is twisted with the dried corpses of its comrades.</p>
            </blockquote>





	King of Thorns and Bodies

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for my friend who roleplays Erwin on tumblr (sterngazes) a looong time ago. Figured I'd might as well post it here since I don't have anything up yet! It's terribly brief, but it's supposed to be, so.
> 
> I have quite a thing for flower symbolism...

It was fair to say that not all agreed with his tactics. That he didn’t have a place in him to care for human life. That he was nothing but a madman who risked the lives of others for what he thought was ‘the greater good’.

It was fair to say that many saw him sitting atop a throne of corpses, with a crown of thorny roses encircling his head. That he showed not a care in the world for the bloody and battered bodies that lay piled beneath him. That he did not care for the drops of blood down his own forehead as the thorns dug into his skin. _Beware of virtue_ , they whisper into his ear. _Although with merit we do come, we are of crimson mourning._

His crown of blooms grows longer still as his command sends soldiers to their deaths. For each man down, another is woven into his kingly wreath.

_A yellow zinnia_ for remembrance,

More for an absent friend,

_A snapdragon_ for deception,

_A poppy_ for oblivion,

_A petunia_ for resentment,

_A peony_ for shame,

_Mock Orange_ for deceit,

And _narcissus_ for ego woven throughout…

_Marigold_ for grief,

_A hydrangea_ for heartlessness and frigidity,

_A geranium_ for folly,

_Cyclamen_ for good-bye,

_Candytuft_ for indifference,

And _ANEMONE_ for forsakenness, for every soldier fallen and forgotten, left in the field, written off as ‘ _missing in action_ ’ when final respects could have been paid.

And every day his crown grows longer. Every day a new bud is twisted with the dried corpses of its comrades.

By the end, this royal garland could wrap around its wearer one hundred times over, from head to toe. But still, he keeps on weaving.

_Truly a crown fit for a king…_


End file.
